Samsung TVs (C and D series from 2010-2011) have a hidden MessageBoxService that lets you display popup notifications on screen. Yep - my 32C6000 still works:
“old, but not obsolete” [T-800]
I recently wanted to send text notifications to my Samsung TV-32C6000 from my openHAB. I remembered using this feature years ago, but the API seemed to have vanished from all documentation. Standard UPnP discovery didn’t show any MessageBox service, and Samsung’s developer docs were long gone (404s everywhere).
After some detective work (port scanning, SOAP service exploration, and diving into an old GitHub repository) I rediscovered the “hidden” MessageBoxService. It’s not advertised in the TV’s device description XML, but it’s absolutely functional!
What You Need
- Samsung TV: C or D series (2010-2011), possibly B series (2009)
- TV-32C6000,
(tested with this device type) - TV-40C6000, etc..
- TV-32C6000,
- Network connection
- HTTP client
Technical Details
- Endpoint:
http://[TV_IP]:52235/PMR/control/MessageBoxService - Protocol: SOAP 1.1 over HTTP POST
- Namespace:
urn:samsung.com:service:MessageBoxService:1 - SOAP Action:
uuid:samsung.com:service:MessageBoxService:1#AddMessage - Message Types:
- SMS,
- Incoming Call,
- Schedule Reminder
The MessageBoxService doesn’t appear in the standard UPnP device description (/dmr/SamsungMRDesc.xml). It’s a proprietary Samsung service that uses a non-standard path (/PMR/control/... instead of /upnp/control/...). This is why most UPnP discovery tools miss it!
The <Message> element contains XML-encoded content:
SMS Message Example
<Category>SMS</Category>
<DisplayType>Maximum</DisplayType>
<ReceiveTime>
<Date>2025-12-15</Date>
<Time>22:30:00</Time>
</ReceiveTime>
<Receiver>
<Number>+1234567890</Number>
<Name>Recipient Name</Name>
</Receiver>
<Sender>
<Number>+0987654321</Number>
<Name>Sender Name</Name>
</Sender>
<Body>Your message text here</Body>